Why tariff lobbying may trigger FARA

WHY TARIFF LOBBYING MAY TRIGGER FARA: Covington & Burling plans to send an advisory to clients this afternoon warning them that may have to register with the Justice Department as foreign agents if they're lobbying for exemptions from President Donald Trump's tariffs. "Companies that are engaging with Congress and the executive branch on trade issues may be surprised to find that their advocacy could have FARA implications," the Covington advisory reads. "FARA is a notoriously tricky statute, with broadly worded triggers, complicated statutory and regulatory exemptions, and a complex history of Department of Justice legal interpretations that are not publicly available. It may seem strange to suggest that lobbying on commercial tariffs could have FARA implications, but Congress and the Department of Justice considered a very similar situation nearly thirty years ago and reached surprising conclusions."

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—Why would tariff lobbying trigger FARA? In testimony and written submissions to Congress in 1991, "Department of Justice officials stressed that lobbying directed at 'enlarging the U.S. market for goods produced in [another] country' was predominantly advancing a foreign interest," the advisory reads. "In a letter to Congress, Assistant Attorney General W. Lee Rawls noted that Congress had specifically amended FARA in 1966 to capture lobbying related to sugar import quotas, and he analogized lobbying on sugar quotas to lobbying on automobile tariffs." The Justice Department now interprets key portions of the FARA statute more narrowly than in the past, according to the advisory, giving lobbyists even more reason to worry. Here's the full advisory.

SPEAKING OF TARIFFS: Kruger, a Canadian pulp and paper producer, has hired Ballard Partners to lobby on tariffs. And no, it’s not the steel and aluminum tariffs or the retaliatory tariffs against China that we’ve been writing about. Instead, Ballard Partners will be working with Kruger to ask the Commerce Department to consider reducing a preliminary tariff imposed on groundwood paper from Canada, announced earlier this month. (Groundwood paper is used to produce newspapers.)As POLITICO’s Morning Trade reported, some imports “will get hit with preliminary anti-dumping duties of up to 22 percent.”

—Ballard Partners is asking that the Commerce Department grant Kruger an expedited review process to assess the rate they will pay, according to a source familiar with the lobbying effort. Kruger will argue that it has never dumped. If the company can prove this to the Commerce Department’s satisfaction, the tariff “would certainly go well below 22 percent,” the source said. Kruger also has Crossroads Strategies on retainer.

QATAR NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE HIRES CHOHARIS LAW GROUP: The Qatar National Human Rights Committee, a government-appointed independent human rights commission, has hired Choharis Law Group to lobby on “human rights in Qatar and the Gulf region” as well as “the blockade of Qatar,” according to a recent disclosure filing. In an interview with PI, Peter Choharis, principal at Choharis Law Group, said the group’s lobbying efforts will focus on talking to officials at the State Department and members on the Hill to “ameliorate some of the effects of the blockade,” if not end the blockade altogether. Among the issues Choharis will focus on are family reunification for Qatari citizens who were expelled from the blockading countries and restoring the rights of Qataris to visit Saudi Arabia on religious pilgrimages.

NEW HEALTH COALITION LAUNCHES TO ADVOCATE FOR PILOT PROGRAMS: A new coalition of health care groups launched today to advocate for pilot programs intended to improve health outcomes for Medicaid recipients by taking into account the effect of social factors on health care. Members of the Aligning for Health Coalition, run out of Sirona Strategies, are Alliance for Better Health, BlueCross Blue Shield Association, CareSource, Humana, Maxim Healthcare Services, Solera, UPMC Health Plan and WellCare Health Plans.

— Krista Drobac, chairwoman of Aligning for Health, told PI that by testing the effect of other social services on Medicaid recipients, the programs could improve health and save money for the program. “There is a lot of discussion about social determinants, but there are a lot of federal barriers to taking action in integrating social determinants, and so it became increasingly clear that we needed a policy effort in Washington to create the space for pilots to exist,” she added. Among the federal barriers, Drobac said, is the lack of inter-departmental funding that would allow for the coordination of a pilot program between the Department of Health and Human Services and another department with social-service programs, like the Department of Agriculture. The group is calling for temporary funding authority for pilot programs that would require inter-departmental coordination.

RENACCI FAILED TO DISCLOSE POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS: “U.S. Rep. Jim Renaccifailed to disclose nearly $50,000 in political contributions while registered as a Washington lobbyist starting in the late 2000s, according to an Associated Press review of federal records,” Julie Carr Smyth reports.“The AP review identified five reporting periods from 2008 to 2010 while the Ohio Republican was registered as a lobbyist when he either failed to file the required disclosure form or reported giving no political contributions when he had given. Renacci, a businessman and former Wadsworth mayor, is Republicans' favored candidate to win a GOP primary and take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown this fall in one of the year's most closely watched Senate contests. Renacci's campaign said that he never lobbied. They said he was registered as the lobbyist with the consulting firm he helped launch in 2008, Smokerise International Group, as a precautionary measure. Renacci's attorney, Laura Mills, said he ‘never performed any lobbying activities.’” Full story.

NRA SAYS IT TOOK FOREIGN FUNDS BUT NOT FOR ELECTION USE: “The National Rifle Association received foreign funds but didn’t use the money for election purposes, the gun lobby wrote to Senator Ron Wydenof Oregon,” Bloomberg’s Polly Mosendz reports. “‘Our review of our records has found no foreign donations in connection with a United States election, either directly or through a conduit,’ the NRA’s secretary and general counsel, John C. Frazer, wrote in March 19 letter that was made public by Wyden’s office. U.S. authorities are reportedly investigating whether the Second Amendment rights group funneled Russian funds into the 2016 presidential election. The NRA spent more than $50 million on the last campaign cycle, including $30.3 million to support Republican candidate Donald Trump, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has previously written to the NRA to ask about its fundraising efforts. He’s referenced Alexander Torshin, a Russian lawmaker and ally of Vladimir Putin who attended the group’s annual meeting in 2016.” Full story.

SIXKILLER FOUNDER NOW COO OF KING COUNTY, WASH.: Sixkiller Consulting founder Casey Sixkiller left to become chief operating officer of King County, Wash., in February. Mariah Sixkiller, a partner at the firm, told PI that “his former tribal clients are in the capable hands of his longtime deputy Josh Clause at Clause Law.” She added that the firm is “now women-owned and staffed.”

JOBS REPORT

— Nick Garlow and Nisha Cooch have joined Rational 360 as directors. Garlow was previously a digital media adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services and Cooch was a science and technology policy fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Alfredo Ramirez joined Rational 360 as director of digital media. He was previously the digital campaigns manager for the League of Conservation Voters. Brigid Hasson and Drew Holden also joined as senior associates. Hasson was previously in the coalition relations department at the Heritage Foundation, and Holden was a legislative assistant for Rep. Paul Gosar(R-Ariz.)

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About The Author : Marianne LeVine

Marianne LeVine is a reporter at POLITICO who covers lobbying and co- authors POLITICO Influence. Prior to her stint on the lobbying beat, Marianne covered labor policy for POLITICO Pro, writing about regulations related to overtime pay, retirement advice and occupational health and safety. Her reporting in 2016 about domestic abuse allegations against President Donald Trump's first nominee for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, was a key part of the debate surrounding his nomination, which he ultimately withdrew. Prior to working at POLITICO, Marianne was an intern in the Los Angeles Times' Washington, D.C. bureau.

She graduated from Stanford undergrad in 2013, with degrees in International Relations and French and completed Stanford's Graduate Program in Journalism in 2014.

About The Author : Theodoric Meyer

Theodoric Meyer covers lobbying for POLITICO and writes the POLITICO Influence newsletter. He previously covered the 2016 campaign for POLITICO and worked as a reporting fellow for ProPublica in New York. He was a lead reporter on ProPublica’s “After the Flood” series on the federal government’s troubled flood insurance program, which won the Deadline Club Award for Local Reporting. He’s a graduate of McGill University and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.